Literally the most unbiased, practical, non-fanboy review I think I've ever seen. I wouldn't be sad if you started reviewing cameras more often.

Dust, dust, dust. Yes that can be a problem. I’ve shot with Sony for years now and can tell you they hold their charge longer than others. After you turn the power off you’ll hear a faint click a couple of seconds later. That’s supposed to be the discharge. Wait another couple of seconds before releasing the lens. After I started doing this I very rarely get dust on the sensor and I shoot in some very dusty environments.

The question for any camera is whether it does what you need it to do in a way you are comfortable doing. A James pointed out Sony's have a lot of great features and some irritations. Replace Sony with any other manufacturer and the statement is generally true. The irritations will be different.

Every time I watch an unbiased camera review I see how it's mostly about practicality, ease of use and ergonomics. I have been a Nikon user for over 11 years now, however I have used Canon and Sony from time to time. I wouldn't change brands but it's not because of sensor quality, it's because Nikon just fits my hand best and I am used to the controls and menus. The rest is just capturing a sellable image and that's what all cameras do.

I went the other way from Sony to Panasonic precisely for these reasons. Better menus, ergonomics, flip out screen and touch screen . Just the overall experience of taking pictures is more joyful. I use the 24-105 f4 lens for the most part and switch to the 45mm f2.8 for some specific shots.

Dust moves to all directions in the air including up (you can check this with flashlight in your home). Water however, mostly moves down unless we are talking about fog. That said, I don't think it's about the weather sealing but about what happens when you change lenses. Perhaps Sony cameras hold charge on the sensor a bit longer after you turn it off and if you are quickly taking the lens off after switching off the camera, the sensor "sucks" in the dust. I think that's why it seems that Sony cameras "collect" more dust than Lumix (or other) cameras. A7IV has the option to close the shutter while changing lenses. I'm not sure if that really helps but I hope the option becomes available to A7RIV in some firmware update.

I'm in the process of trying to choose my first decent camera and youtubers have made me believe that anyone who doesn't own a Sony simply doesn't exist. Thank you for this honest, non sony-fetishist review video. Very much appreciated!

As a long time follower it is so reassuring to see you embrace high resolution goodness. I laughed out loud at your comment about the tripod. Love your ongoing authenticity and genuine humility.

just got my A7iii few days ago, having a blast and takes really good images, just upgraded from a canon 700d and wanted to make a switch to Sony. and what an upgrade it is! Low light/dark images are actually usable now even in editing when increasing exposure, the images never turn out too noisy to post/use.

Excellent context as always. Interest to see what your function menu items are as well !!

Just got my A7IV. Less resolution (33mp), but it addresses most of your issues: dust protection of the sensor by closing the shutter when switching it of, new menu system, more touch options, even better ergonomics… love it.

I just wanted to say, I watch your videos because of your love of photography, personality, and humor. I enjoy them, thank you.

About the weather sealing, theyre fine ive had no issues in rain for about 3 years with my old a7III now, and that things almost been so drenched I couldn't hold it. The dust I fear is due to static on the sensor or something similar pulling the dust up even when tilted down. The A7IV just added an option to auto close the shutter on turning off to help with that, working well for me so far.

For the aperture ring- gaff tape! I use a piece on one of my zoom lenses, to keep the focal length exactly where I want it. Easy to peel back/off if you do need to use the ring.

Love the delivery James ! :-)))

Menus and touch screen! I totally agree. You can do so much with the touch screen on even cheap Lumix cameras, including navigating the menus, but on my more expensive Sony camera, it has so few functions that I sometimes forget that it even exists.

Sounds like you could do with the A1….touch menu,(new menu system)high resolution,ultimate autofocus,great weather sealing and great ergonomics.Too much for me but I have just got the A7iv,well impressed.Mini A1…👍🏻👍🏻 Just received your book,thank you and have a great new Christmas with the new family member.👍🏻👍🏻

Love your dry humor, James! You are my favorite YT photography 'influencer'. I typically deride anyone considered to be an 'influencer', but your efforts and presentations have influenced me to 'upgrade' from a Nikon crop system to the Lumix G9 (and I'm loving the image quality, usability and portability). My Sony experience and ownership is a 'point-n-shoot' RX100 VI, hate the menus, love the image quality and portability and inconspicuousness. Please tell me the Lumix MFT system remains in your stable!

Glad to hear you are enjoying your Sony’s. Love my A7r4, handling is great improvement over my A73 and the viewfinder resolution is also great. People often moan about Sony menus and yeah some of the naming is a bit odd, but you really don’t live in menus that often and you get used to it.

I too bought into the Sony A7rIV in March of 2021 with the 200-600mm and 20mm 1.8 and just love it. The ergonomics are very good considering I also use the Nikon D4s, a bulk of a camera. I was pleasantly surprised that such a small camera felt so good in my hands. Since it is my first mirrorless camera, I have nothing to compare it too as far as dust on the sensor. I have not had an issue with it and the dust cleans up very easily.

I've been using the Sony A7III for 3 years now, yesterday I was daydreaming how nice it would be if you could set a minimum shutter speed... Today I see your video and you showed me that's actually possible! So thanks a lot haha

The menus! I had the same experience when i switched. Lumix menu set up are so much easier to navigate and understand. I do recognise the shooting handheld at lower shutter speed. I do think the iso handling of sony for photography is better than on lumix. Autofocus (continuous) is so much better true in in Single shot i dont see much differences between Sony and Lumix

Very practical review James. I agree with you about the menu, poor experience initially but once I set up the custom buttons on A7iii it was fine. Mind you now I have the A7IV, the menu is huge upgrade. And very true about the aperture rings slipping on the lens, I did that all the time on my 24mm! Glad to hear your enjoying the A7RIV!

Welcome to the Sony users. Love my Sony gear, it does a good job. 👍

Interesting to hear what you thought of the ergonomics, As a Canon shooter of many years I tried the A7R mkiii and I found it very awkward in my hands, just goes to show how much you get used to a certain feel

I love my G9, but I'm glad you've found what works best for you!

A month into my own switch from Lumix to Sony (A7iii & awaiting the A7iv) I love the autofocus. How did I/we cope with the G9 & GH5's? Proper film makers use manual focus they say. Baloney! Just switch to Sony LOL. Agreed the stabilisation is not as good (on the A7iii at least) but it's not that bad if you have a steady hand and warp stabiliser, and there's always the gimbal. High hopes the A7iv will be handheld all the way. And the picture is silky straight out of the camera. So far delighted with the switch and the A7iv hasn't even arrived yet. Awesome videos James. As usual, thanks for the inspiration.

Iv'e plugged mics so many times into my A7III and it still works fine after almost 3 years. The trick is to push the plug in gently and not jamming it in there like stabbing someone. Often mic jacks are just soldered to a board, and using too much force breaks them loose. I don't know if that's the case with the A7III, and that would be far from ideal, but if you just assume that and treat all mic jacks accordingly, you are going to run into a lot less problems.

Nice waffling, as usual. While I am not currently interested in Sony and don’t expect to be, I was keen to hear your observations. There is always a chance that you could have an insight that can apply in the broader case. Very nice presentation in that regard. One thought about those locking methods - perhaps they used the different actions to further distinguish which knob was being changed should one not be looking whilst operating. That is a technique for aircraft design, like making the flap and gear handles shaped like what they move. Cheers till next week!

Nice opening see you next video.

So I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this, wonder if you've got an opinion on based on the occasional shortcoming, what camera might you look forward to which could plug those gaps?

Thinking of moving from MFT to this camera so was particularly pleased to listen to this remarkably unbiased view. As someone who uses Olympus's combined lens and IBIS to extreme especially in indoor locations I am concerned about your requirement for a tripod. The question now for me is can the ISO be increased without compromising the extreme detail?

Yeah I just bought the A7riii. I'm coming from Canon. I love Canon, but I decided to try something new since I was using an 8 year old camera, and most of my lenses broke, so I shot with the a6400 and a6600 for about 4 months and loved it. So I decided to get the A7riii as a Full Frame. Do not regret it.

For the issue with the aperture ring, I think the rings are programmable? I'm not a Sony shooter myself but I had a look at them a while ago and I think I remember seeing an option to change the function to something else, such as focus. Since you'd be auto-focusing when you pull the camera out of your bag for a quick shot, and you have the dials for aperture, setting the ring to focus might be helpful.

I love my sr4. I got into birding as I go out. Now my 100 400 G master with a 1.4 teleconverter lives on my sr4. I use apsc mode. To help the auto focus and track. I'm happy with 26mp if the right Bird is in focus. Still better than the 24mp that I had before this camera. I would never use apsc mode on a landscape photo though.

I’m shooting the same setups . . . a7R IV for stills and a7c for filming/stills and I couldn’t be happier!.

You could use a lens band halfway on the aperture ring to "lock" it in place.

Nice one James, never mind the dust, thats just housekeeping, 61Mb !! you can't beat it on that size camera!

Would love to see a rig run down on how you’re currently filming your vidoes on the A7C and what picture profiles/settings you use.

Hi James, are some of the lenses that you're using maybe not weather sealed? Like the 70-200 f4 for example?

Love my A7iii, but yes, it needs a dust blower. Never had a wetness issue and learned the menus by setting up customs

I bought a Sony A7R3 a few years ago. My previous cameras were Nikons with mirrors. On day 1 of using the Sony I saw sensor dust. With my Nikons I had always had the sensors professionally cleaned - about three times a year. I rapidly learned how to clean a sensor with my Sony (somewhat simpler than with Nikon as the mirror and its grease were not involved) and I no longer feel terrified at the evidence of sensor dust. But I do see sensor dust regularly on my Sony and so, whenever changing lenses, I use a Giotto Rocket. Just a matter of adapting.

Just want to say received your book a few days ago... awesome work. Jealous of the locations you have visited!

I switched from a Canon 5DS to a Sony A7R III - the menu system for a shock - but it was soon forgiven due to it's improvements in almost every other area.. low light performance, advanced AF, increased FPS, bright monitoring etc.. overall, very happy and glad i made the change!

Great overview James. From all the cameras I have used over the years Nikon & Panasonic seem to have the best ergonomics and menu systems. I am currently using a Nikon D7500 DSLR & a Fujifilm X-S10 mirrorless system. The Fuji 18-55mm f2.8-4 has a separate switch on the lens to go between using the aperture ring manually or assigning aperture to a dial on the camera thus disabling the lens ring-even if you turn it, the aperture will not change thankfully! It's a better design than Sony's if you ask me.

I was working for Konica-Minolta (the office equipment division) when they sold the camera division to Sony. They didn't tell us what they had done, just a mass email to all employees that they were getting out of the camera business. It's always interesting to see how far Sony has now taken the products. It was a good move for Sony. I am curious about why you made the move to Sony after being a Lumix brand ambassador (or something like that) for years, but I expect there are things you aren't at liberty to discuss. Thanks for the honest review of the product, including flaws. It really doesn't matter what product you are using, though, as your channel is typically about technique and inspiration, which is hardware independent.

Nice, balanced review. All my a7 style cameras have had the dust problem. My thought is down to static attracting it. As you say, easy to remove.

Just brilliant as always James. Hope you’re getting some sleep these days 👍🏼❤️

I don't know if anyone commented this yet. But I think the dust issue is due to the camera being electrically charged for a good few seconds after turning the camera off. This means the sensor is just sucking in dust when you remove the lens soon after shutting off the camera.

So I recently-ish switched/upgraded from a G85 over to the Sony ecosystem (A7C + 28mm Sony prime lens) for filming my videos. I find that any time people compare M4/3 to Sony APC/Full Frame for video, autofocus gets a mention, but it's not focused on enough considering the quality of life improvement that comes from literally never worrying about being out of focus. I really loved the G85 for stills, but it's autofocus was never good enough for my video work (lots of talking head stuff) because it seemingly randomly decides to hunt for focus. You're right, for people that make videos on KZfaq, the autofocus upgrade going to Sony is likely worth cost of admission alone.

Part of the reason your minimum shutter speeds go up in addition to resolution, is due to the amount of time it takes to complete the exposure. This is different than shutter speed. The shutter speed selects the size of the slit that moves across the sensor and exposes the sensor for the amount of time you set.... but with a larger sensor that opening in the shutter has more distance to travel thus taking a long time to complete the exposure at any given shutter speed... this becomes a much bigger deal with medium format. Nobody seems to talk about it.

Hi James. Yeah my first venture into Sony wasn't a good one. In 2018 got a brand new A73 and took it to Europe for a 3 week vacation. I did not have a laptop so all previews were done on the lcd. I also power off take the battery out. Flip down and swap lenses. Any case got home and all my photos and videos had dust spots when shot or videod with small apertures. Sold it after 6 months and lucky me i kept all my Canon gear so I still had a parallel system. After 13 months my Canon R6 has one small single dust spot. Now I am looking at A7R4 or the A74 and the Sony lens system since it has matured more than Canon. Does the AR4 not have the shutter lock down mode. I know the new A74 does.

I still love the original a7 MK1. Lightest of them all with still adequate IQ. Love the control scheme. I am on my second one after not owning FF for half a year. This time bought brand new Fe 28 F2 producing lovely sun stars, and versatile Samyang 75 F1.8. Love this combo. Even on MK1 video AF is reliable.

I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the system change, James. You're proof that the art comes from the photographer, not any particular camera. I, too, switched from the Lumix system (GH5 & G85) to Sony (A7S iii & A& iii) about a year ago. My experience has been quite similar to yours, including more dust spots than I'm used to on the sensor of the A7 iii. But, all in all, it has been a good switch for me - especially for the incredible auto focus in video. I haven't quite developed the rapport with my Sony cameras that I felt with the GH5, but that might just be a matter of time.

I do Wildlife with my Sony A1 and it was the best purchase I ever made. For me the Sony A1 does everything I expect and much more. I use also the Sony A9 II, so this my dream combo. Could not be happier with this setup. The menu system isnt an issue for me at all, this is in my opinion over exaggerated. All the things I need I put on one page and that's it. Easy. Done.

You nailed it - well except for one detail. I am 1 year and 3 months on the A7R IV as my first Sony after 7 years on Canon before that. And I have been telling people the same thing: The menu does not matter much, you set the camera up according to your needs and liking once and be done with it, and it is not *that* bad in comparison either - if I was asked to look for some specific function in the menu of my Canon at some point well after the initial setup, I had to go through the same tedious process of hunting it down by looking through page after page and there also were those "C.Fn I" to "C.Fn III" menu items each leading to a whole bunch of various well hidden settings. The plus side with the Sony is that you can customize it so much, its not only a My Menu there, but also the Fn quick menu and most buttons that you can set up, the latter also to change a whole set of settings. Also agree on the wonderfulness of the resolution - but you are not forced to use it, so the price for it, as you put it is not that bad - a slightly blurry shot that would not have been blurry at lower resolution you can always downscale to that lower resolution and get an equivalent result. Same for ISO, go higher than you would, scale down to half size and you still have more resolution and less noise than most low resolution "ISO wonders". The detail I disagree is the different lock mechanisms of the mode and exposure compensation buttons - this makes perfect sense to me: The mode button you always want to explicitly set once inbetween photos taken and never flip accidently, so it makes sense to always be locked and automatically return to locked state after use. The exposure compensation however, you may not use at all and thus keep it locked or (like me) use a lot (e.g. along with aperture priority) and as such adjusting it back and forth while taking photos and thus keep it permanently unlocked. It'd be very very annoying to use if it was self-locking like the mode dial. Likewise the mode dial would be annoying to use, if instead of one push and twist motion you had to go through 3 steps of unlocking, twisting and relocking each time.

Been looking to invest in a camera for months and months, so this has been super valuable - thank you! Sony's my #1 candidate as a manufacturer.

what is your picture profile settings? The a7c footage looks really good.

The two different dials mechanisms... maybe it is so doing it by touch you don't get the wrong one?

Fair points, I just released my 12 month review this week! I'm a big fan of the locking exposure comp dial, but also the push-to-turn on the mode dial - especially for weddings. I've previously had cameras switching modes while dangling from a holster so it's negated that! SmallRig make a great little cage for the a7C which includes extending the grip, much improves overall ergonomics - well worth checking out 👊

Added a Fuji GFX100S to my bag a few months back but still find I'm reaching for my Sony most of the time. The functionality and customisation just work for me and I find the Fuji heavy and cumbersome in comparison. And, I'm really struggling to see a significant improvement in IQ over my A7RIV. Edited an image last week that I thought was taken with the Fuji and began to think, yes, I can see a difference ... right up until I noticed the 60.2 megapixel count at the bottom of ACR.

Even if you shoot in apc mode, you can go into lightroom and go to the crop and choose original imagine instead of as shot and you'll get the whole image

Great video

It's a nice review, i think it's quite honest about the Sony system. I really enjoy Sony systems, they are really good, but I would like you, James, to go back and shoot a little bit with the g9 to see how your perspective on MFT has changed, or may be not. Non the less, great review/video.

Do take care to keep the little hotshoe protector cover in place when going outdoors - it's can be an expensive repair if you put your camera down for a second in wet grass, never mind allow drizzle on the contacts

Don't worry about the level of water/dust protection on the a7R4. I owned most sony cameras and still own like 7. The R4 was always a dust magnet probably something todo with static building up on the ibis/sensor part no idea. The A1 is fine again its a R4 thing never understood why since the R3 didn't really have much of a issue either. Personally i think the last gen (among them the A1) are the best they made and i sold my R4 since the A1 fully taken its place and that has a 70khz ultrasonic cleaning mode it runs at times or when you do sensor clean seems to be working sofar for me.

Just watched a 4 year old review of the lumix G9 you made. It seemed like you really loved it. How does this Sony camera compare ? Thank you

As far as rain, living in North Wales we get a bit as you should know, and my Sony cameras have been fine (a9, a7r4, a1). I agree with you on the a7r4 and dust.

I've used my a7RIV with a weather sealed lens in rain I probably shouldn't have for much longer then I should have and it held up like a boss.

That aperture ring thing, sigma have, with the 85mm any way, started adding an aperture lock on their lenses, absolute lifesaver.

Nice review. I would like to point out that dust is much more visible with high f numbers and, I presume, high megapixel densities. I've got an A1 and so far have never had to clean dust off, even though I know how to and have done it often with other cameras in the past. I don't want to go through all the formulas, but if you think that you are getting any use out of your high sensor resolution on a full-frame camera then you need to keep your f numbers down around f/4 to avoid diffraction blur. With lenses that wide open, dust is not a problem.

Menus were redesigned starting 7S3

You gotta talk more about weather sealing!

I agree with you about Sonys. Its why I switched from Nikon back in 2019 to the Sony A7R III. Menu system is definitly confusing but after you set up the camera you will never go into it again. I have all the C buttons set to how I shoot and that's that. Very easy to use once set up to how you shoot..........as for the dust, keep a air blower with you to blow the dust off the sensor. Even one of those baby nose gunk suckers work for blowing dust off a sensor. Just make sure it hasnt bene used on your child's nose first. Lol

I have always had Canon cameras even back in the film days but it is always interesting to see and hear other peoples thoughts on different gear etc, everyone is different, thank goodness. And no I probably will never change from Canon, thats just my personality and to me they are like an old friend, I make sentimental choices, or not.....

Do you get PO'd when using C3? May the 4th be with you! The one thing that is consistent between return customers to restaurants and people continuing to use one camera brand vs. another, is a good menu that serves the customer well and gives them what they want.

Nice! From a Fuji user, seems like it would be very complicated having a PASM dial, AND the aperture on the lens. What if you’re in “S” mode but also have a selected aperture on the lens?

As the others have said, the dust issue could very well be static on the sensor. I've gotten into the habit of using my blower every three or four lens changes because of it. That said, I also only use two zooms, and I don't use them that often, so I don't really have anything blowing dust directly on the sensor. Water is so much heavier that it's unlikely to get on the sensor, and I still have yet to get the sensor wet, even in wind-driven snow or our annoyingly humid summers. If you have the time to, try waiting until you feel the sensor stabilization deactivate before changing lenses if you haven't already been doing so. That _should_ help at least a little bit since no power is going to anything around the sensor at that point. You should hear a slight popping noise and feel the thunk when it's off, same as when it turns on unless the a7RIV is different from other Sony cameras.

Hi James, what lens have you used in this video? Cheers!

Married to an A7RIII shooter I'd agree with you on the dust point. She's fastidious about lens changes but so I was interested to read the comment below about the couple of seconds delay in powering down, below. I'll tell her to count to ten before unlocking the lens.

Still good videos. But actually the pros/cons are the ones I (and most others) expected. So I‘m still fine with my MFT. Eventhough the resolution really looks impressive.

Great vid. I’m a A7riv shooter too, it’s a great workhorse :-)

I have the same dust problem with my A7R and A7c. I never had that with Nikon, Fujifilm or Olympus gear. Sony cameras seem to attract dust. The A7c has become my main camera, if I don't change the lens and use a lens with an aperture ring it's so easy to use.

Someone should send a copy of the G9 to Sony for studying menu and stuff. I'm exactly in the same boots (is that a phrase?) by having Panasonic and Sony and my experience is the same. Only bought a7c for autofocus and low light. How I wish the two cameras would be somehow mixed for the better. Now fiddling with my a7c on a gimbal and it's a hassle.

I moved to Sony in 2019 after using nikon for around 20 yrs and so glad I did. It wasn't an easy decision to make though. I loved my nikon equipment,

I have a A7RIV also. I love it for stills. Id like to echo that Aperture adjustment ring. Id like it to LOCK. I do alot of event style photography carrying 2 full frames. Id like to have a lock mode so that settings don't change while it hangs off my neck and im using the other camera body.

Is there a way to manually close the shutter of the camera, so too protect the sensor during lens swaps? I think the dust is the difference of having a mirror in front of the sensor, as apposed to just the sensor out in the open. Let me know if I’m wrong about you having a mirrored dslr, before Sony?

James, i'm using that fabric tipe black graffer tape from tesa as a protector skin for my lenses, but i found out it's also nice to keep the aperture ring on A. ;)

The 7r4a has so a pur menu and touch functionality...but the image quality is great. Sigma 35 dg dn has also an aperture ring but you can look it (in A or outsite) ... stay healthy

What's the watch you are wearing? It's gorgeous

I actually was quite surprised about the sealing and such initially, I also came from a MFT sensor. I had less problems in the freezing cold and a waaaaay longer lasting battery life. It seems so fragile, yet I had it frozen in Lappland (ice crystals on the body), hammered by thunderstorms and tortured in the Sands of the Pamir. Somehow it survives :-D the sensor dust is a true pain in the axx to be honest though

Gaffer tape for the aperture ring. Question... can you set any ove the C buttons to act as a shutter?

used sony sinse they bought out konika minolta and also now using the A7riv and a7riva. dust not really had an issue.as blow out camera every time i change lenses. weather sealing i have soaked every sony camera ive owned and never had an issue other than 2 tiny water droplets inside my rx10iv after soaking that probably 300 times over 4 years lol. have you played with Bright monitoring yet? when shooting lowlight landscapes at night. very very handy

Asparagus rubber bands work great for locking a twisty part of a lens in place.

You can also protect the sensor with Filtre Clip-in filter

How do you like the unstable focusing camera, when make the smallest movements in video? Especially outside 😬

Has the autofocus for stills been a huge improvement over the panasonic cameras? Do you see yourself getting a better keeper rate?

Congratulations for your Son dear.

Well... I just did that same! Started following you when seriously looking at M43, enjoyed your content so much kept watching though I went with a Z6ii. Needing better AF & Realizing Nikon was years away from glass I could afford (3rd party etc.) decided to switch systems. A7iv in hand & a Tammy arsenal, I couldn't be happier.. well if Sony would give us a decent screen I would be! Thanks again for the great videos!

dust is a common problem for the a7 iii. The sensor seems to be electro magnetic and sucks dust in when changing lenses. so dont worry about the water